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Central Park in Spring

The word Spring is a misnomer when used to describe the current New York weather. While the last of the snow has melted, the temperatures are barely crawling past zero (in the Celsius scale) and dressing in layers is still the advise du jour; because even if it looks warm and sunny outside, it usually drops to near zero temperature in a few hours.

In this weather, Central Park looks quite charming in its post-wintry decay; the trees are still bare and brown, dried, ochre-colored leaves cover the off-road tracks, and only the slightest hues of green, from the new patches of grass growing, hint at the change of season.

Yesterday afternoon, a friend and I went to what she called “the more hispter side of Central Park.” In other words, this was the enclave on the Upper West Side populated by jogging/walking/strolling New Yorkers instead of starry-eyed tourists with their baseball caps, fleece jackets, sunglasses, and cameras hanging off their necks. We went an hour before sunset, which provided the perfect lighting for the photographs below. One of my photography professors remarked back in August last year that this light is referred to as “the golden light” among photographers – the perfect setting to take photos.

Overall, it was satisfying to see how these pictures turned out.

The path led up to the 110th Central Park West entrance.

The sense of decay among the trees was a remnant of the bone-chilling winter.

This dusty pathway by the small water passage gave off the lost-in-the-woods vibe from fairy tales.

My friend Joanna.

Another small water body; though the water here was quite filthy.

Back into the woods.

A fallen branch in the midst of the decay.

Another off-the-road, dirt path leading up to one of the main roads.

Deep in the woods. And my friend Joanna.

Decay.

Despite the cold, the sky was gorgeous.

At this point, we were pretty lost and it felt like fairyland.

At last, we found our way out onto one of the main roads within the park.